Systems and methods herein generally relate to clear texturing, and more particularly, to clear texturing on a media substrate associated with a printing apparatus.
A substrate carries information in the form of images, graphics, and textual content. Oftentimes, the substrate carries additional information in the form of an identifier, such as an authenticating mark or a watermark. A first type of mark is selectively detectable. The mark is not viewable under casual inspection. Rather, a visual aid alters a viewing condition to make the mark viewable. An example of the first type of mark includes a fluorescent watermark. The fluorescent watermark may be made viewable when an illuminant alters a light condition used to control either toner or substrate reflection. A second type of mark is detectable under casual inspection. An example of the second type of mark may include a raised surface portion on the substrate. Another example may include an image rendered on the surface portion.
A colored or monochrome ink or toner is applied to the substrate to form the image. A lighter application of ink or toner is applied to the substrate as compared to a heavier application provided for the content. The lighter ink- or toner-application provides the mark with a generally washed out appearance. However, the image may still interfere with a viewer's ability to read the content also carried on the substrate. This difficulty is especially the case when a colored toner layer, used for the mark, is situated directly beneath the content layer. Accordingly, there is needed a new way of presenting marks. A mark is desired to include a generally transparent appearance. More particularly, a generally transparent mark is desired for casual inspection, whereby the mark includes a characteristic that makes it easily identifiable.
A use of clear toner on printed media sheets is becoming more diverse with newly discovered applications for using the clear toner as a way to achieve particular visible effects. For example, a layer of clear toner may provide the media sheet with a glossy appearance, or it may provide a textured image, that is supported on the media sheet, with a perceived third dimension. One aspect of using clear toner is an ability to produce certain effects while requiring less expensive manufacturing methods and substrate materials. As mentioned, texture is a desired visual effect that may be achieved using clear toner. For example, the use of clear toner on a generally uniform surface may provide the appearance of a third dimension when the toner (i.e., forming the image) is viewed relative to a blank region of the print media sheet. The reflective behavior of the clear toner may further contribute to the degree of the perceived dimension based on a reflection at select viewing angles. To further achieve a perceived textured surface having a noticeable tactile feel to a touch, the media sheet may be subjected to multiple passes through the image forming apparatus for building a clear toner layer having a certain pile height. Each pass may be used to render one coat of the clear toner layer. However, media sheet-degradation is associated with a conventional operation after a certain number of passes. The media sheet generally degrades as it is moved through a paper path. The media sheet may get caught in the paper path if the pile height of the clear toner layer is built too high. Accordingly, the caught media sheet may cause a jam to the image forming apparatus. The jam may decrease a production efficiency of the image forming apparatus if additional, queued print jobs are held until the jam is remedied and the apparatus is made operative again.
The current procedure for handling multiple pass clear is to RIP the page once. The color toner and clear toner are applied on the first pass. Clear toner only is applied on subsequent passes. In order to use 100% clear toner, the color planes are reduced to enable 100% on the clear plane. This leads to a chromatic deficiency on the color printing as compared to printing color without clear toner. What is needed is a system that enables optimal color printing on the first pass with optimal (100%) clear printing on subsequent passes.